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CONTENTS

P ERCY CRADO CK was Ambassador to China from 1978 to 1984 and th e Prim e Minister's Foreign Policy Advise r from 1984 to 1992 . Hi s book Experie11 ces of Chiua was published in 1994 .

ALLAN MASS LE ha s just fini sh ed a nove l set in th e yea r of the four emperors, 69 AD. l t is to be call ed Nero's Heirs.

ALEXANDER CHANCE LLOR's longawaited account of hi s t imes in America , entitled Som e Tim es iu America, is now scheduled to appear from B loomsbury in June . I n a va ried and co lourfu l journali stic career, he was Editor of 17le Spectator from 1975 to 1984. His American masterpiece is said to be very enterra ining by peopl e who have see n parts of it. Those intere ted shou ld start saving the £17.99 th a t Bloomsbury are plamung to charge .

DAV ID PROFUMO is hard at work on hi s mag uum opu s, e ntitl e d Walto11's Ghost, a literary exanunation of fi sh and fi shing .

DAM IAN TH OMPSON, whi l e writing learned and entertaining art icl es on re l igiou s subje c ts for the best publications, is also reading for hi s Ph D on the sociology of religion at the London School of Econom i cs. Vintage recent ly reissued Ius last book, Th e End of Time , at £6.99.

GERALD HOWSON is the author of Anns for Spain : 17ze Uutold Story of th e Spanish Civil War Qohn Murray).

T AHIR SHAH 's latest book is Sorcerer's Apprmtice (Weidenfeld & Nicolso n £20). H e lives in Londo n, but is about to vVlite a book on Pem.

R OWAN PELLI NG is Editor of Th e Erotic R e11 iew . Grub Smith, h e r subj ec t , was an editorial assistant on Literary Review for some yea rs in the mid Eighti es.

LITERARY REVIEW April 1999

FROM THE PULPIT

HIST ORY

MEMOIRS

RELIGION & DEATH

FOREIGN PARTS

BIOGRAPHY

BELLES LETTRES

FICT ION I

1 AUB.ERON W AUGH

4 RoBIN BLACKBURN King Leopold's Ghost Adam H och sc h i ld 5 G.El~LD H OWSON Cornrades Pau l Pres t on 7 R ICHARD OvERY H ess: Th e British Conspiracy J o h n H arris and

MJ Trow

8 MARY KEEN Girlitude: A Memoir of the 50s and 60s

Emma Tennant 9 AlSLING FOSTER 44: A Dub lin Mernoir Peter S h e ri dan 10 PATRICK TAYLOR-MARTIN A Positively Final Appearance:

A J ournal 1996-1998 Alec G ui1mess 11 ANTHONY STORR Sight Unseen Geo r gi n a Kl eege 12 CLAUD!A PUGH-THOMASJosser: An Outsider in the Cirws N ell Stro ud

14 DAMIAN THOMPSON Lourdes : Body and Spirit in the Secu lar Age

Ruth Harris 15 M ICHAEL WATERHOUSE The Gender of Death: A Cultura l

History in Art and Literature Ka rl S Guth ke 16 RHODA KOENI G History of S11icide Georges Mino is

18 PERCY CRADO K Th e Cl·wn 's Great Continent: China i11 Wes tern

Minds J ona t han Spence 19 CHARLOTTE EDWAR.DES KurdistanJonath an C Randa] 20 TAHIR SHAH Th e Search for Shangri-Lo: A j oumey into Tibetan

History Charles Alien 22 CHRISTOPH.ER. HART Fro st on lll[y Moustache: The Arctic Exploits rf a Lord and a Loafer Tim Moore

23 SIMON H.EFFER Bonar Law R J Q Adams 24 R ICHARD GRAY Wait Whitman: The Song of Himself

J erome Loving 26 KATHRYN H UGHES Frederick the Great Giles M acDo n ogh

27 GEORGE WALDEN The Broken Estate: Essays on Litera ture and

BeliifJames Wood 28 FAR.RUKH DHONDY Derek Walcott J o h n T h iem.e

30 ALASTAIR NI VEN Th e Ground Beneath Her Feet Salman Rush d i e 31 CAROL! NE MooR.E An Equa l Music V ikram Seth 32 V ICTORIA GL.END INNIN G Mara and Dann: An Adventure

Doris Lessing 33 DAVID PROFUMO Th e Plato Papers Peter Ackroyd 34 ST EPHEN AM IDON Ton·rca t in Lo11e T im O'Brien 36 PAMELA N OR.R. IS A Stairway to Paradise M ade le in e St J o h n

Editor: Aunm.ON WAUGH Deputy Editor: NANCY SLADEK Asmtant Editor: LI SA ALLAP...DICE Genera l A ss istant: jAM.ES PuSEY Business Manager: ]SABEL BOOTHBY Advert.isirrg Manager: LOUISE HAR.R.I SON Classified Ad~~ertisement Sales: lAM ES PUSEY

Contribr.tti l·tg Editor: LILI AN l'IZZICH INI

Subscriptior!S: BEN H OUSE Publisher: NAIM ATTALLAH Fou 11ding Editor: DR ANNE SMITH

Co11er illustration by Chris Riddell

Iss ue no. 250